What the Youth See as the Key Issues in This Election

By Robbie Morrissey

During the course of canvassing for this election, one of the rising points is that Ireland’s forgotten youth who left for a better life will return home to vote. But what about the youth that have risen from the ashes over five years and those who stayed to help take us out of the darker days? Well according to a new infographic from consumer branding team at New Slang, they see the burning issues on social media to be education, registering to vote, and the economy.

The focus of the data was around users aged 18-25 and with the help of digital monitoring company Cloud 90. They tracked social media use from 3rd February(the date the election was called) until 20th February.

The results found that 19% of young people are concerned with education,15% of mentions were about registering to vote, 14% were concerned about the economy, health was 12%. The lack of debating around repealing the 8th amendment amongst the leaders clocked in at 12% and jobs accounted for 8% of mentions.

The study also found 18-25 year olds are concerned about issues of environment, Irish Water, tourism, Right2Change, emigration, and family.

Data was taken from various social media channels, blogs and forums that mention #GE16, #vote2016, #MakeaSmartVote and #CountUsIn.

Have a look at the infographic to find out more on gender interactions and Enda’s rating. If there’s any other topics you think are important to highlight in the election, why not comment below and speak about what matters for your vote.